How to cut PERFECTLY STRAIGHT LINES with a SKILLSAW and a straight edge!

[@HannahMattox]

Thanks to you, I went and got new drywall tools and even impressed my husband with (to him) useless knowledge 😂 he now knows what a 12 inch knife is about, why the bucket-o-mud isn't as good as the stuff you get in boxes (he'd never seen them until I started watching your videos, and now he knows 💁‍♀️), and that I'm never going to master the at of drywalling, but I'll always get by with great tips from my KZbin buddies (most from Canada 😂) and my house is fixing to be totally different. I have to make a big job out of my living room. It has paneling 😬😬😬😬 y'all wish me some dang luck. I need all of it 😂

[@vancouvercarpenter]

Good luck!!

[@917Stefano]

You already have things that are far better than luck: A willingness to learn, and the drive necessary to get things done! But I'll wish you good luck anyway!

[@HannahMattox]

Hiriser 15 thank you! I've been doing it for years and years, I just totally appreciate our Vancouver Carpenter bro who has the most fantastic tips and tricks ❤️ construction is really where my heart is, but drywalling is #2. #3 is actually making cakes (which I'm actually working on as we speak), which is actually a LOT like drywalling! I lead a very diverse life 😂 thanks for the luck, buddy! ❤️

[@zxborg9681]

Jeez that's a nice view from the backyard. Some great skil saw tricks too. Nice.

[@fixerofthings]

That is a very nice view from your backyard.

[@michaelcurtis5696]

Sure you had this a million times, watched plenty of your skateboard videos then come across this. Awesome watch.

[@BillWalters77]

Ben, how lucky are you that you get to overlook this beautiful countryside while ripping some boards for your basement shelving. Appreciate the life you have.

[@essextwo]

Man... that view. I gotta head out west again. Good video.

[@llamapi3]

Excellent explanations! I nee to build a bifold door for a wonky doorway and this will be a huge help.

[@thepowerofap]

Thanks a lot Vancouver Carpenter... I appreciate you showing some of your other tips and tricks, like using the Skillsaw to blow the dust off - never would have thought of that. And thanks for explaining things in detail. It's nice to have DIY videos that have good explanations along with the visuals. Take care. I'm definitely going to try this stuff out the next time I only have a skillsaw on hand.

[@Donp1949]

I always enjoy the motivational messages at the end of the videos: "Get up and do something..."

[@jeffcanyafixiy]

You've got the wingspan for those plywood cuts. 👍👍 I have to do the "stop and walk-around" for more than 3' Always enjoy your videos!!

[@jakeqwaninne8502]

i learned this watching this old house, i DO NOT ever use my circular saw without one , but you don't really need to do anymore measuring , just glue , or screw the factory edge piece anywhere on the rest of the pannel so long as it clears the distance from the blade to the edge of the shoe, the saw determines the eventual cutting edge, every saw is different just a bit, so it only really works with that saw, and you have to make a new one if you cutting a bevel, i add self stick sand paper to the bottom, unless what im cutting cant get scratched, also the blade kerf will change the jig, i love these things, it almost eliminated my table saw

[@zandemen]

I used a lot of pre-finished birch plywood on my house, similar to what you're doing. Just used an off-cut factory edge as a straight edge for my saw, but often had to follow curved lines due to studs that are not straight. Simple fix, use a narrower guide rail (about the same as your 3.5") , mark end widths, bend middle to a measured center width, follow the nice gentle curved guide to match the curved studs. This made nice tight joints not requiring trim or caulking even with walls that are bowed. If you're doing more than a couple cuts I would recommend a few extra steps in setting up. Take your straight edge, fasten it to another wider straight edge, say 12", then run the saw down the wide one using the narrow one as a guide, ripping the wide one to exactly the width of the plate to blade width. You now have a guide with no offset, just set that edge on your mark and extend the blade an extra 1/2", no math. Don't have to worry about scratching your wood. Doesn't work for curved cuts any more. Also, set up a table, just put some rough plywood or OSB down on your saw horses so the workpiece is fully supported no matter where you cut.

[@robertpautsch5093]

I do not even mess with calculation the 1 1/2 or 1.38 or whatever. I did a one time measurement to accurately determine the distance from the saw edge to the blade. Then I cut a block of oak to that measurement. I keep the piece of wood in my saw case. Then, when cutting plywood using this method, I grab the block and use it to add the offset. That way there is no mental math of adding odd dimensions to get the offset. Do you save that guide piece for future cuts? If so, add another thinner strip on the top for more stiffness.

[@gdf5487]

Thank you for taking the time to share the use of the saw on your time off. Appreciated, and if you spread a bunch of mayonnaise on the bottom of the skill saw it will glide better and keep some for your sandwich later

[@DavinStewart]

The factory edge bit is good advice. Nice idea! Also, blowing the sawdust with the saw. Genius!

[@RichardBruce-q4d]

One tip you showed my was blowing off the saw dust using your saw. Cool

[@dennispuleo9575]

Love the videos Love the black cat at 4:50..

[@vicf6509]

Good tip. I appreciate your humor.

[@dbayboyds409]

My favourite part was seeing you blow off the chips with the saw! That’s how I get the grass of the concrete with my mower!

[@deadearl]

I was showed by an oldster long ago , to make a similar gauge , .. the difference being , we cut an MDF board 3 inches wide , .. the took a 1/2 inch piece of ply wood and lined the cut side of the mdf against the plywood edge and screwed it down , .. then took the saw and running it against the factory edge , cut the plywood . From then out we had an eight foot straight edge that you can clamp on you line , and will cut true every time . REMEMBER ... kerf , the line and jig are on the side you save , .. or you will lose the blade sedimentation . I made s few and cut them to 4 foot and two foot sizes .

[@petercumiskey3188]

Spot on. Did this years ago. Still have the 8 ft , 4ft and 2 ft.templates..

[@lexboegen]

there are a couple of methods to reduce tear-out--one is to cut a piece of plywood or hardboard the same size as your saw plate, and attach it with double-sided tape. Then *carefully* do a plunge cut through it to create a zero-clearance saw plate. Another method is to make two passes when cutting instead of one pass. The first pass the saw blade is set extremely shallow (no more than the thickness of a playing card) to make a "scoring pass", then extend the blade to the normal cutting depth and make a second pass. You can use a few playing cards as shims to space the saw plate above a flat surface, then lower the blade (saw off, of course) until the blade just touches the surface. Now your blade extension is equal to the thickness of one of the playing cards. Both methods work well, just a bit fiddly to initially set up.

[@vancouvercarpenter]

Good stuff!

[@luckyvet]

Uses a skill saw as a sawdust blower Ok, this guy is a borderline magician. I'm watching til the end.

[@monkeygraborange]

That was a truly slick move!

[@greatwhitenorth5256]

My high school teacher always did that! lol 😂

[@misterfee6467]

He gonna make his leg disappear 🤣

[@TheGibby13]

Thanks dude! Used this method to make some stairs today, needed 2x8 but 2x10 were 75% off so got them instead, worked perfect!! So did the sawdust blower method too 😉

[@dustinboyce25]

I love the saw blower trick for getting rid of the sawdust

[@josephmitma520]

As a fellow carpenter who skates i love ur vids and its been great to see ur channel growing 😤🙌

[@djriebe2]

I use "Door Boards." Probably one of my most used tools. Nick Ferry does a good tutorial on KZbin

[@Mark-EFMB-Combat-Medic]

(8:20 ) "32 and 15/16th and a half" Funny, but always educational.....eh. Keep up the great videos? A former business partner of mine lived just north of Vancouver BC in Squamish.

[@afterhoursgloomy]

4:46 cat

[@andriyshapovalov8886]

5:12 the shadow of the Terminator on the wood.

[@monkeygraborange]

_JEEEEEZ..._ I've been up and doing something since 5 am! Now i'm sitting on my duff watching *you* work!

[@RayZde]

monkeygraborange nothing good happens after midnight

[@firstlast8229]

Excellent video!!

[@EulisesReyes]

You’re getting close to 100k subscribers. Keep it up

[@marksullivan2333]

I use a utility knife when I want to be more precise marking cut lines. Love your videos.

[@monkeygraborange]

Same here. Chalk line is fine for rough cuts, but when you're into fractions, it bites.

[@MichaelTaylor-gt2ge]

well that's amazing! what a great tip... i will definitely be using this method, thanks so much!

[@timothyhaynie2338]

I have done similar things! If I don't need "extreme" accuracy I have found a fairly straight 2x to work in a pinch!

[@jodysanders6445]

So helpful and keeps it fun...if you're enjoying yourself is it really work?

[@laoschild86]

I heard from a carpenter say something about putting paper tape like a masking tape across the line your going to cut and it helps out the tear out of the cut

[@billybike57]

Thanks for sharing!

[@svetoslavivanov8871]

Awesome video!

[@joycemiller4716]

Good stuff and tips just a small tip make a spacer the width off the offset put straight edge on this mark love from England

[@vancouvercarpenter]

Awesome tip!

[@Klodvig105]

I suppose you could use a rip fence for that first cut... but I know everyone just tosses those to the junk drawer in the garage after getting the saw out of the box.

[@jeffreybresnahan]

All I do is measure the cut width and add on the size measurement of the saws external edge, which is 30mm on my circular saw, mark top, middle and bottom and clamp my straight edge to that mark.. Which always gives me a perfectly accurate, and straight cut everytime..

[@tangobayus]

And save this edge for future use. My dad had one he used for decades and had made frame on it for a level.

[@VictorMPR]

Cat got my attention. CAT!!

[@susankoech]

Love the panther

[@johng9562]

Nice trick with the sawdust blow off.

[@Noah-qt3rq]

How to make a saw guide: Take your 3” piece of 3/4 ply you just cut and set it on a 12” x 8’ piece of 1/4” masonite with a 2” overhang. Nail or screw it on with glue from the backside. Now using your saw, cut along the Masonite with the saw against the edge of the plywood strip, which will cut off the remaining 1/2” of Masonite. Now the edge of the Masonite is perfectly set to where you actually want to cut. Saves a lot of time over measuring and subtracting numbers.

[@DerekElliott-qn2kz]

Thank you for the video Ben-one question is when you did your first cut in this video, did you cut very slightly into both 2x4s as you went across them?

[@sajidmah62]

Really helpful video thanks

[@Xatruch504]

To avoid or reduce tearing or splintering of the wood when cutting, buy a fine teeth disc and also tape where you're doing the cut ( not desirable on finish paint stuff as it can leave a sticky film) and never ever use a dull blade as they chip wood really bad. Cabinetry is considered fine carpentry, so use blades for fine cuts, actually everything that cuts must be sharp, never dull. Disc blades, saws, knives, chisels, etc.

[@LayzeLyfe]

LOL skill saw as a blower! Life Hacker skills!

[@highlinebyjmac4733]

Love your channel keep it up. 😁👍

[@ryantaylor4654]

very well done.

[@comadrejar1]

Love the view.

[@vino867]

i just bought a $120 guildline for my saw last month...................and now i see this!!!!!

[@regularguy9264]

You could make a diy track saw with your off cuts. Then you don't need to compensate, don't have to worry about blade deflection, etc!

[@donkuhn9597]

Nice tip thanks for posting it

[@andriyshapovalov8886]

If you want a precise cut, instead of practice cut, you could do this as well: just begin cut for one sixteenth deep or so. Then stop and check with the tape. Adjust by lightly tapping on the fence with a hammer 🔨 or handle. This way you can make cuts with one sixteenth of one sixteenth accuracy ;)

[@regibson23]

I already know how to do this but I'm still watching!

[@atarileaf]

Simple to make a homemade jig for your skilsaw

[@jt1731]

I would have labeled this video "Sawdust management"

[@-ElCreator-]

Gracias!

[@Erjet1008]

Thank you very much!

[@nobodyspecial6436]

Been doing that for years... nice tutorial though!!! Oughta be a pretty snazzy shelf

[@TheRoflcopter84]

You know this guy is the real deal when he uses the saw to blow off the dust.

[@alejandrorangel1761]

Vancouver Carpenter does it best!

[@samemardini]

Very useful.. Thank you!!

[@getyourfeelgoodbackbjones1576]

Thanks!

[@patrickcrudden1546]

I would always ensure the pencil i use for marking has a fine sharp tip which will give a more accurate thin fine cut line, Accuracy is crucial when marking out.

[@MrTooTechnical]

cool. were u in whiterock when cutting this plywood

[@vancouvercarpenter]

Tsawwassen

[@Exiide89]

My circular saw base doesn't have any edge on the blade side. It's only on the motor side. What is the solution.

[@executive]

Most circ saws have a slot for a rip fence. No eyeballing chalklines necessary.

[@makrospex]

good to know. I have to cut off half an inch of my skating plywood table/ledge at the base, which soaked up too much water from rain over time. Thanks :).

[@davichan9286]

Right on man, keep it up!

[@rigomayher4456]

Thank I learning someting new today september 1...

[@boltup5566]

Any tips on cutting a short bit off one end? There's nothing supporting the saw on one side of the cut because you're trimming a piece off.

[@rubo1964]

rip fence guide is like 12 dollars.Makes it lot more easy to cut 3-5inch along the edge.

[@erictold]

Making a jig is better. Attach two thin plywood with a step. Use the step to guide the saw. It’ve shown in TOH years ago.

[@DEG1985]

Buen video gracias, me he subscrito a su canal.... Very informative video thank you, I have subscribed to your channel ....

[@OnRappel]

Why do you use imperial measurements?

[@stevenschaefer606]

What kind of tool belt do you have

[@christiancenturion9895]

beginner question here, what if the depth of the blade is not exactly the same thickness as the plywood and you hit the support studs below? will the saw fight back or will it fly right thru the stud also?

[@phillnavin1212]

Yea I think he is cutting a mm or two into the support below

[@peterkizer6163]

So happy to see you wearing eye protection...I guess it would be asking too much for you to wear ear protection, too? (And yes, I always do both; I won't mention my steel toe work boots ;-)

[@gregorsamsa1364]

A little circular saw isn't super loud. No worries

[@udengineer2002]

Yeah it’s not that loud especially outdoors and only on for a few seconds. Indoor I use earmuffs with loud power tools. Also use them for something like lawn mowing or weed wacky games with could be 30 min or longer.

[@andriyshapovalov8886]

Hard hat?

[@coreys.4778]

I learned the hard way this past summer in not wearing safety glasses while working. Bent over to picked up brush and turned left. A twig poked me in the eye, then bounced up scratching my retina really deep and leaving bark pieces and such in my eye. Took a full week to recover. Then cutting wood with chainsaw some chips went in my eye, the same damned eye. Another week and bad damage to my eye. Never again!!!!! I always have my glasses in my hoodie, a pair in my jacket and a pair in my truck just for me. I have several other pairs for my workers as well

[@lukej5265]

At 9:57 it looks like your cutting across the support pieces under the plywood. Aren't you cutting them a little as well?

[@HarrySKeith]

Pro tip: Your circular saw is a blower! great use of saw sir!

[@BrentDarlington]

That's how I do it. Can't afford those track saws.

[@thoughtlesskills]

Track saws may be nice but that silly price tag... Especially Festool...

[@BrentDarlington]

@@thoughtlesskills I would have to make a lot of cuts to pay for that investment!

[@mattm6430]

Canada not metric or is it specific to carpentry there?

[@misterpister]

We're metric, but when it comes to carpentry or measuring something in the trades, it's always standard measurements. Probably because 1/4" is easier to read on a tape measure than 6mm. And maybe because we sell and import products from the US.

[@dmitripogosian5084]

@@misterpister We also buy our meat in pounds :)

[@jeffmurnahan]

Could you put a piece of duct tape across your cross cut to prevent tear out?

[@claymoonias204]

Usually I run my olfa blade on the board before I cut ..to prevent tear up..tape is also good..

[@konstantinusstoyanov9749]

Thanks man " adjust the beveled without the hammer " cool

[@jakeqwaninne8502]

i didn't watch the whole thing b4 my last comment, i thought you were making a chute board, if you screw and or glue the factory edge piece to about a 10" or so strip of your stock material, or really anything you can find ,it gives you a fairly permanant jig , atleast for that saw, and then you just lay the edge along your cut line and you pretty much have a poor mans track saw

[@rougesunset]

Gotta take into account that the teeth cut out a fraction more material than just the gaurd to the flat part of the blade

[@MoranGuyVideos]

Not sure it is right to measure front and back when board is not square

[@steveysimmons13579]

Thought you guys used the metric system.

[@steveysimmons13579]

@DR PHIL If that's what works for you guys...

[@mowler8042]

The first cut you do by eye

[@SteveWrightNZ]

More carpentry! Actual! :o

[@Zehn-X]

12 people upset that the Vancouver Carpenter is actually showing a carpentry video

[@konstantinusstoyanov9749]

Isn't true the cleaner cut is on top ?

[@vancouvercarpenter]

For a table saw it is.

[@YTubeSDD]

You said this method is okay for getting close (and good enough for your basement shelf). So what do you do when you need it really accurate, like for nice shelves in your living room? I can never seem to get a perfect measure for the full length of a long rip like that.

[@vancouvercarpenter]

You can get it perfect but you will need to make a test cut and find out what the exact deduction is before making final cuts. This was not my usual saw. I borrowed a friends whose house I was at and the offset from the blade was slightly off the 1.5" my saw is.

[@YTubeSDD]

Thanks for the replies.

[@HBSuccess]

Make a shoot board. Tons of youtoob vids about it.

[@MrPDTaylor]

Do a perfectly straight kickflip.

[@illestofdemall13]

You didn't seem to account for the saw kerf. If you did, you would be only 1/32 of an inch off on just one side.

[@illestofdemall13]

Also you went back an inch and 5/16ths instead of an inch and 7/16ths.

[@snetphilie]

Shouldn't you have cut it in the other direction... That is once the black cat crossed the screen 😆

[@freeski08]

You measured 1-9/16” from the cut line instead of 1-7/16”

[@illestofdemall13]

Look closely at the direction of the numbers and you'll notice that he measured 1-5/16" actually. Same amount of error as you are saying, but to the other direction.

[@tempesttube]

Is that a joke making fun of people who look at those things? He measured back 1-7/16” from 33”, which is 31-9/16”.